Paris Fashion Week kicks off on Monday, September 29. The Spring/Summer 2026 women’s ready-to-wear collections promise to be electrified by a tectonic shift of rare intensity in the hushed world of artistic directors, with nine major debuts, including the first steps of Jonathan Anderson and Matthieu Blazy, respectively on the catwalks of Dior on Wednesday, October 1, and Chanel on Monday, October 6.
From Monday, September 29 to Tuesday, October 7, the City of Light will be buzzing with creative energy to the sound of fashion and savoir-faire with Paris Fashion Week, featuring 74 runway shows (compared to 72 last March) and 37 presentations for a total of 111 fashion houses.
On the established fashion houses’ calendar, Saint Laurent will kick off the festivities on Monday. It will be followed by Louis Vuitton the next day, Tuesday, Dior on Wednesday, and in the evening, Balmain, which will celebrate its 80th anniversary. The Row, Rabanne, Schiaparelli, and Isabel Marant will join the program that day. Maison Margiela, Hermès, Balenciaga, and Givenchy will show on Friday, October 3, with Alaia, Céline, and Valentino on Saturday. On Sunday, October 5, it will be the turn of Chloé, McQueen, Coperni, and Miu Miu. Then, on Monday, October 6, Chanel will bring the week to a spectacular close.
Duel at the top
Among the nine creative talents making their grand debuts, Jonathan Anderson at Christian Dior and Matthieu Blazy at Chanel—both 41 years old—are shaping up to be the must-see headliners of this Fashion Week.
On one side is Jonathan Anderson, the beloved Irishman and rising star of Loewe, where he worked for twelve years. The architect of the Spanish fashion house’s breathtaking commercial success, which saw it rise to the top of the Lyst rankings, he is still at the helm of his own fashion house.
The man who was appointed with great fanfare to head Christian Dior’s women’s, men’s, and haute couture collections last June has already made a splash with his men’s collection. It is now up to Jonathan Anderson to definitively close the chapter on Maria Grazia Chiuri, who spent eight years at the helm of the Parisian fashion house, founded in 1947.
On the other hand, we find the Franco-Belgian Matthieu Blazy, crowned at Chanel in December 2024. This discreet outsider, who previously worked at Celine, is behind the commercial upturn at Bottega Veneta, the Italian fashion house with the iconic Intrecciato design, part of the Kering group.
The new creative director of the Maison on Rue Cambon has the daunting task of opening the post-Karl Lagerfeld chapter, marked by 36 years of influence from the Kaiser of fashion, who was succeeded for five years by his close collaborator, Virginie Viard.
Baptisms of fire
Apart from the duel at the top between Jonathan Anderson and Matthieu Blazy, seven other creative talents will present their first shows.
This is the case for Miguel Castro Freitas, who has worked at Sportmax, Dries Van Noten, and Dior, and will present his first Mugler show on Thursday, October 2.
British designer Mark Howard Thomas, formerly of Helmut Lang, will follow suit four hours later for Carven, after serving as Louise Trotter’s right-hand man.
Loewe, which saw its iconic creative director leave for Dior, will hold its show on Friday, October 3. This will be an opportunity to see how Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, the historic creative duo behind Proenza Schouler, take on the brand’s codes.
The following day, Pier Paolo Piccioli, one of the last éminences grises of fashion, who spent 25 years at the helm of Valentino’s collections, will make his debut on the catwalk as creative director of Balenciaga. On the same Saturday, it will be the turn of Glenn Martens, who is still active at Diesel. Having offered a taste of Haute Couture in July, he will present his first ready-to-wear collection for Maison Margiela.
On Sunday, October 5, Michael Rider will have the task of making people forget Hedi Slimane at Celine. On the same day, the whimsical Dutch designer Duran Lantink will show how to succeed Jean-Paul Gaultier, another flagship label of the eighties—along with Mugler—which is currently undergoing a revival.
Highly anticipated comebacks
In addition to the aforementioned comebacks, note the return of the L’Oréal Paris show this Monday, the opening day of Paris Fashion Week. This show, open to the public, is set to take place this year at the foot of Paris City Hall.
On October 3, Vetements, the label co-founded by Demna—who, while working at Gucci, chose to unveil a capsule collection in Milan last week instead of a runway show—will make its return to the official calendar, as will Thom Browne, who showed in New York last season. On Monday, October 6, Agnès b. will undoubtedly be one of the most eagerly awaited returns. The 83-year-old designer behind the success of the snap-button cardigan, who is celebrating half a century in fashion, has been conspicuous by her absence for several seasons.
For its part, Lanvin showed under the leadership of newcomer Peter Copping during Haute Couture Week. This season, the doyenne of active fashion houses, which has just unveiled a new visual identity with its signature blue, is revamping its presence to show during the women’s ready-to-wear collections on Tuesday, September 30.
It should be noted that eleven fashion houses have decided to skip this season, including Kenzo and Duran Lantik. Others have opted for presentations, such as Marine Serre and Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Determined not to follow suit, the very southern Jacquemus, which returned to the men’s calendar this summer but has no plans to show on the official calendar this season, nevertheless made an impression with a new collaboration with equipment manufacturer Nike, a reinterpretation of a flagship sneaker from the 1970s.
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Featured photo: Unsplash
